2 hurt in Thailand mosque attack

Attackers hurled a hand grenade at a mosque in Thailand's restive south Tuesday, wounding two caretakers after early morning prayers, police said.

Police were searching for at least two men who parked a pickup truck in front of the mosque in the city of Yala and then threw a grenade onto the building's roof before it rolled down and exploded near the entrance, said police Col. Pitsawut Sanguansombatsiri.

The attack occurred just after a few dozen people had left the mosque following morning prayers, said Pitsawut, one of the investigating officers.

The two people wounded by the blast were mosque caretakers who were seated near the entrance reading, Pitsawut said.

Yala city is the largest city in Yala province, one of three provinces in Thailand's deep south that has been gripped by a Muslim insurgency. The violence has claimed more than 2,900 lives since 2004.

Police blamed the attack on suspected Muslim insurgents, who are routinely accused of carrying out attacks on fellow Muslims as part of a strategy to intensify anger over the bloodshed and push more Muslims to join the insurgency.

"I don't believe they meant to kill people, since they attacked after prayers. They just wanted to cause a disturbance," Pitsawut said.

Authorities recently had stepped up security fearing attacks around the anniversary of the founding of a separatist group, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional, or National Revolution Front. The March 13 anniversary is often marked by violence against Muslims and Buddhists.

Drive-by shootings and bombings occur almost daily in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces, the only Muslim-majority areas of the Buddhist country. Muslims and Buddhists who work for the government are viewed as collaborators and targeted by insurgents.

Violence appears to have intensified recently, with suspected insurgents attacking targets that were considered safe havens.

Over the weekend, a powerful bomb exploded at the C.S. Pattani hotel in Pattani province. The hotel has long been used as a base for visiting journalists, foreigners and government officials. Two people were killed and 14 wounded by the bomb, which was hidden in a parked car outside the hotel. The explosion shattered windows as high as the eighth floor.